Page 6 of The Goalie

Lucy came up to me so suddenly, I nearly choked on my cake. I shifted my gaze to her, swallowing what was left of the bite of cake I had in my mouth.

“Excuse me?” I asked.

“I thought I invited everyone you liked,” she said. “Granted, you don’t like a lot of people, but still. I invited your team and your coaches, but that’s everyone I knew you tolerated. I can’t fill my gym with twenty people, Dan. How pathetic is that?”

“Well, it’s something I would have preferred,” I commented drolly, grabbing another bite of cake. “I don’t know anyone.”

“But all these people came out to see you,” she insisted, her big eyes excited and eager. “That’s pretty awesome.”

I rolled my eyes. “These people are not here for me, they’re here for themselves,” I pointed out. “Let’s not pretend otherwise. They wanted the free food or the opportunity to meet and network with professional hockey players. They didn’t want to miss out on anything. They wanted to get laid. There are plenty of options to pick from.”

“The only person who showed up who made it clear she wasn’t here for youat allis Sam,” Lucy said. She took another bite of her cake. “That’s the only person you’re allowed to say wasn’t here for you. But shewashere for me, so it all works out.”

“I’m sorry, whose party is it?”

I glanced over at the cake, wondering if I should have another slice. I was careful about what I ate, but I couldn’t resist the cake, especially when everyone else was indulging themselves and would soon see how fucking delicious it was, get more, and then there wouldn’t be anything left over for me.

Lucy scoffed, rolling her eyes. She took a piece of walnut that had fallen off the cake and popped it into her mouth.

“What were you guys talking about anyway?” she asked, looking at me from the corner of her eye.

I dropped my eyes to my nearly empty plate. Using my index finger, I swiped some of the frosting off and put it in my mouth. My eyes closed naturally at the taste. The buttercream frosting was nearly better than sex.

The thought of sex reminded me of Sam and I cleared my throat. Sex with Sam was…

I shouldn’t think about it, especially not in front of my sister.

But the buttercream frosting had nothing on Sam, and that took everything in me to admit.

“I didn’t even know it was her,” I said, trying to get a particularly small crumb lathered with frosting on my spork, “and I don’t think she knew who I was, either.”

“Yeah, I picked out her dress.” Lucy tossed her plate into the trash. Before I could lecture her on wasting a good half-slice of cake, she continued. “She’s been a little sensitive since the whole breakup, living in yoga pants.” She placed the tip of her finger on her chin. “Honestly, I don’t even remember the last time she took a shower, although, to be fair, I haven’t visited her that often and even though I’ve coordinated at least three girls’ nights since the breakup, she doesn’t seem interested in attending any.”

I wasn’t quite sure why Lucy was dumping all of this on me. I will admit that I was amused, no question, by Lucy’s incessant desire to help. Part of me thought she wanted Sam to divulge the details of the breakup to her just so she be involved in drama that wasn’t directly hers.

It was interesting to me that Sam was able to resist Lucy, since my sister was so persistent. Then again, Sam didn’t seem like a pushover either. I liked that she preferred to stay home and keep to herself after something as life-changing as a breakup rather than try to forget it and drink lots of alcohol to make herself feel better temporarily. A lot of people would choose pain medication for temporary relief over slow, painful healing to completely rid themselves of the issue. I always respected those who could deal with the pain.

“Josh really must have hurt her…”

I furrowed my brow and gave her a look. I would have opened my mouth and asked her but it was full of cake.

“What? Why are you looking at me like that?” She flicked her wrist dismissively. “Oh, come on, Dan. Josh is a dick. Sam? Boring? Okay, maybe she’s not your favorite person in the world, but she’s not boring. She’s just… What’s the word where they’re shy?”

“Introverted?” I asked.

“Yes, exactly!” She grinned. “Introverted. But that doesn’t mean she’s boring. She’s—”

“Is there a reason you’re talking to me about Sam?” I asked. I didn’t mean to sound droll because I was actually interested in what my sister was saying, but I was tired of hearing Lucy’s opinion interspersed with it.

“I know, you don’t like her—”

“I think I’m going to take off, Luc.” I threw out my plate and leaned down to give my sister a kiss on the cheek.

“What? Why—”

I pushed past her without responding. It was suddenly overwhelmingly crowded in here and I wanted to get out. I wanted to breathe again. People tried to stop me but I ignored them. I wasn’t trying to be rude, but I couldn’t help it. I had to get out of this gym.

I had to get to Sam.

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